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Just on those two things alone, I give GM Doug Whaley a “B+’’ grade because he made writing headlines easier. Add in the fact he improved his roster – on paper, of course – by the length of Shaquille O’Neal’s waist line plus his shoe size – and Whaley gets an A.

Following every draft comes the annual onslaught of grading. It gets the best of us, even when we know it takes two, three years to find out which players panned out and which ones flamed out.

But why let facts get in the way of a good story, especially when kickoff is still five months away?

Sub-Super Mario is a Miami Dolphin now as is linebacker Kiko Alonso by way of Philadelphia by way of the trade that brought running back LeSean McCoy to Buffalo.

The offense got better after all that, but Buffalo’s No. 4 defense slipped like stock in Staples, finishing 19th in yards and 15th in points allowed last season. Worse, the pass rush went from accumulating an NFL-best 54 sacks to 21, which is like Pavarotti getting laryngitis.

Clemson's Shaq Lawson, right, sacks Alabama's Jake Coker during the first half of the NCAA college football playoff championship game Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz.(Photo: David J. Phillip, AP)

With his first three picks, Whaley nabbed a pass rusher (Clemson’s Shaq Lawson) with inside-outside versatility to replace Williams, a playmaking inside linebacker (Alabama’s Reggie Ragland) who can thump in the run game and blitz in the passing game to replace Nigel Bradham, and a nimble 301-pound defensive tackle (Ohio State’s Adolphus Washington) because Kyle Williams isn’t getting younger or healthier.

These three players, all with above-average value for where they were selected (19, 41, 80), is like giving your truck new tires and shocks. Confined to salary cap jail which rendered his free agency shopping to basically a weekend garage sale, Whaley had to make this draft count and he did.

To which I could hear Whaley say, “OK Rex, the ball is in your court.’’

Assuming the offense is in OK hands with second-year starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor, then all Ryan needed to snap the Bills’ 16-year playoff drought and make good on all his promises was a few new pieces that fit his storied defensive scheme, right? A convoluted scheme featuring more layers than Lady Gaga’s makeup.

Alabamas Reggie Ragland poses for photos with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and former NFL player Bruce Smith after being selected by the Buffalo Bills as the 41st pick in the second round of the 2016 NFL football draft, Friday, April 29, 2016, in Chicago.(Photo: Charles Rex Arbogast, AP)

In Lawson, Ragland and Washington, he was given three players that can have instant impacts as rookies, given that they won’t have to do it alone. Despite the disappointment of last season’s 8-8 record, the defense wasn’t an abject failure.

Like pairings of food and fine wine, and I imagine Ryan was probably hungry after a long weekend, he described Lawson paired with Jerry Hughes on the end/outside linebacker edges, Ragland paired with Preston Brown/and or free agent Zach Brown at inside linebacker, and Washington paired with Marcell Dareus, Corbin Bryant and Kyle Williams inside in a rotation of tackles.

“Was it exciting for me? Absolutely, 100 percent,’’ said Ryan in summation of a weekend that also saw the arrival of an intriguing quarterback prospect in Cardale Jones, a steal at running back in the fifth round in Jonathan Williams, a speed-burning receiver in Kolby Listenbee and a fast, physical cornerback in Kevon Seymour because, like socks, you can never have enough corners.

“I’m going to have a tough time believing somebody had a better draft, but it will be proven as the years go on,’’ Ryan said. “I’m just excited. When you add like we did, these three guys (at the top of our draft) will have a major impact on our football team, I don’t think there’s any doubt.’’

Like a bricklayer finally given a trowel and mortar to build the wall he was hired to build, Ryan did sound genuinely optimistic.

When he was cobbling together stellar units in Baltimore and with the New York Jets, he had plenty of bricks. Inside people like Ray Lewis, Bart Scott and David Harris, outside people like Terrell Suggs, Trevor Price, Calvin Pace and Shaun Ellis.

The addition of Lawson, who will bring a younger spirit and younger legs to the table than Mario Williams at this stage, is big. But so is adding the 6-1, 247-pound Ragland, the kind of player needed to make Ryan’s hybrid 2-5, 4-3, 3-4 lineups work.

It takes big bodies up front and physical inside linebackers that can run to the ball, blitz and play zone. I've got to believe Ryan hasn’t lost his touch.

“When we have been at our best defensively it is generally when you don’t know who is what,’’ Ryan said. “Last year we were somewhat predictable having a true SAM linebacker, a true rush linebacker. This year is going to be much different. You are going to get going back to my days in Baltimore, back to my early years with the Jets, when we played rights and lefts. We don’t know how we are going to configure them, but at the time we snap the ball it could look a lot different than how we do before the ball is snapped.’’

As for the Gronk, he’s Glenn Gronkowski, the youngest brother of New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski. Glenn is a 6-2, 239-pound fullback who played at Williamsville North and Kansas State. Six of his 15 career catches in college covered 25 yards or more.

I’d rather have Rob. But Baby Gronk is better than no Gronk. So is a defense that now has a front seven that actually adds up to seven. On paper, of course.